Various techniques for gathering, analyzing, and viewing commercial data exist. For example, these existing techniques can be used to generate reports that draw data from vast databases of commercial data. For example, such reports may include an analysis of one or more metrics of one or more products in one or more retail outlets, in one or more geographic regions, over various time periods, etc.
One often uses such reports to gain insight into commercial activity. For example, one may learn from a report that a particular product is doing well in certain commercial outlets, and conjecture how to improve the product's performance in other commercial outlets. These insights are often recorded (electronically or otherwise) on the report in such a way as to be shared with other viewers of the report.